A Restaurant’s Bread and Butter

The idea that butter can be an experience unto itself is one that chefs are gleefully embracing, as evidenced by the surge in butter board offerings. Contemporary melted, whipped, shaped and scooped butter executions coupled with butter’s growing reputation as a flavor carrier signal a long trend runway for continuous innovation and adaptability.

This renewed excitement around butter is spreading to another restaurant staple: the bread basket. Once a sign of elevated service, the starter has waned into afterthought territory for many operators. But fresh presentations that leverage unexpected flavors and textures can infuse the classic combo with modern sensibilities.

Here, we delve into two strategies that upgrade the bread-and-butter experience by zeroing in on unexpected flavor pairings and mesmerizing visuals.

Bread-and-Butter Combos 2.0

While the traditional bread basket is an old hallmark of hospitality, it can also fall short in terms of flavor and presentation. But herein lies an opportunity to elevate traditional bread-and-butter offerings, with a little panache and a whole lot of flavor.

Consider pairing a creamy, soft butter with an ingredient of contrasting flavor and viscosity, such as olive oil, savory cream, date syrup, chimichurri or salsa macha. Serve unsalted butter with a distinctive flavor infusion for an artisanal touch. Or simply lean into menuing a butter’s provenance and character, touting the quality of a specialty farmstead variety whose own individual nuances need no additional flavoring. Presentation is also key, from plated displays of free-flowing decorative ribbons, quenelles and rosettes to soft scoops of butter served in ramekins.

Complement the butter—whether avant garde in flavor or artisanally subtle—with breads other than the typical baguette, focaccia or sourdough. Warm popovers and hushpuppies are a playful alternative with extra umami, while biscuits and cornbread impart a bit of down-South hospitality. Brazil’s pão de queijo, Turkey’s pide, Japan’s milk bread and any number of global breads bring instant international flair.

 
Try This

• Beefy Double Dipper Pops: ramekin of whipped pinot noir-cultured butter-beef fat (with flaked sea salt) + ramekin of peppered-black garlic butter swirled with beef gravy + basket of popovers
• Everything Crunch Butter Bagels: two soft quenelles of bright green scallion butter + liberal sprinkling of everything bagel seasoning and chopped crispy chicken skins + schmear of cornichon crème fraiche) + basket of lightly toasted mini bagels

Menu Sightings

Raf’s in New York City pairs its daily bread selection with an unexpected yet delightful duo of creamy soft French baratte butter and Sicilian Occhipinti olive oil lusciously melding side by side in the same crock.

Buttermilk & Bourbon in Boston serves the heavenly combination of smoked cinnamon butter and pimento cheese spread, evoking Southern charm flavors on its Signature Warm Honey Glazed Biscuits.

DOGON, located within the Salamander Hotel in Washington, D.C., makes an Afro-Caribbean-infused bread-and-butter statement with its Coco Bread with malted sorghum butter and Corn Bread with spiced shiro butter.

Provenance in Philadelphia marries flavor sophistication and trend-forward style, pairing an elegant sourdough milk breadstick with a pressed soft quenelle of kimchi butter.

Pretty as a Picture

Taking a page from charcuterie displays and interactive tableside presentations, the bread-and-butter starter is evolving in its dining room presence. Refined butter flights, elaborate butter bars and decadently mounded tableside displays are the new extension of the previous butter board craze. Feature luscious, melted butter swirls and butter-infused vegetable or fruit schmears with an array of crusty breads. Use a squirt bottle to create swirls of melted butter art directly onto an array of breads, or use a spoon to liberally schmear whipped butter directly onto plates as a flavor accompaniment with striking visual effect.

While the bread-and-butter combo is delicious in its own right, these experiences create a prime opportunity to capitalize on incorporating trending flavors. Savory interpretations will lead the way, but compelling sweet dessert or sweet-savory brunch renditions provide a whole other level of customizable exploration.

 
Try This

• Latin Butter Flight with Arepas: scoops of nata butter + piloncillo whipped butter + huitlacoche-chipotle butter + warm arepas
• Blissful Buttered Pork Chop: grilled pork chop + butter-roasted Bosc pear wedges + creamed brown butter-grain mustard swirls (over the chop and pears)

Menu Sightings

Litchfield’s in Phoenix menus a next level Butter Flight appetizer on a wooden board, featuring a variety of fresh-baked breads with a chef selection of flavored butters (one savory, one spicy, one sweet).

Bella La Crema in Longmont, Colo., has a passion for butter, culturing and churning butter in-house with fresh cream. The Butter Bar samples 20-plus different savory and sweet flavors of cultured and compound butters. Of note are `with Hungarian smoked paprika, roasted garlic and onions, lime and sea salt, and Sunrise Saffron Shine with turmeric, cinnamon, saffron, lemon, honey and bee pollen.

Quality Bistro in New York City puts an upscale $38 spin on butter, making bread and butter the star of the show with its signature Tableside Butter Cart service. The display of softened butter (sourced from an Upstate creamery and featuring added yogurt cultures) is scooped onto a marble slab, artfully smeared and topped with minced shallots, French sea salt, black pepper and sweet-spicy Piment D’Espelette. The luxurious masterpiece is served alongside toasted bread, petite hors d’oeuvres and accompaniments.

Stanton Social Prime in Las Vegas amplifies the butter board trend via a whimsical presentation and head-turning tableside theatrics. In the signature Smoked Butter Board, a tall, smoke-filled glass cloche reveals a silky disc of smoked butter artfully presented with Thumbelina crudités and Maldon sea salt, with a side of warm Kalamata olive baguette. The restaurant continues the butter experience into the entrée section: dry-rub-seasoned prime steak sits atop a bath of beurre de baratte with a finishing touch of pink Himalayan sea salt.